A fresh set of warnings has been issued to swimmers and beachgoers in Cornwall about beach water quality. It comes after sewage was discharged into the sea at nine beaches across the county.

This is according to an interactive map shared by Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which looks at water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines, highlights the locations across the UK which have pollution warnings in place today (July 6).

Sewage dumps are often blamed on heavy rainfall as overflows are used to prevent drains being overwhelmed. However, the side-effect is sewage ending up in the sea.

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Such warnings have been a common occurrence in recent years in Cornwall and beyond. Water companies are legally allowed to discharge waste into the sea and rivers after periods of exceptionally heavy rain to prevent the network backing up and flooding roads, homes and businesses.

According to the Safer Seas & Rivers Service map, the following beaches in Cornwall have sewage pollution warnings in place as of today:

  • Readymoney Cove
  • Long Rock
  • Godrevy Towans
  • Gwithian Towans
  • Fistral South
  • Fistral North
  • Mawgan Porth
  • Harlyn Bay
  • Summerleaze

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is calling for an end to sewage discharges into all bathing waters, and high-priority nature sites, by 2030. In 2023, there were 584,001 recorded discharges across England, Scotland and Wales - an 51 per cent increase on the previous year - with sewage released into waterways for a total of 12,966,322 hours.

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